


take a bite

by strangemeat



Category: Tiny Meat Gang (Band)
Genre: M/M, Slow Burn, just a cute little fic, soft
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-27
Updated: 2020-05-15
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:15:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23886550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/strangemeat/pseuds/strangemeat
Summary: cody moves to a new town and starts to frequent the nearby sandwich bar, for multiple reasons
Relationships: Cody Ko/Noel Miller
Comments: 9
Kudos: 62





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hey guys!! really sorry i haven’t been active much, i’ve been real busy. updates for OOZMA KAPPA are currently in the works now that i’m close to finishing my second year of university! so i have a lot more time.
> 
> as always, this is just fun and creative writing and i’ll always respect the boys and their relationships!! 
> 
> stay safe and healthy 💖

Cody’s tired, sweaty and hungry.

Moving in on your own and hauling all your belongings up three flights of stairs is hard. His biceps ache, along with his legs, and probably his neck tomorrow from all the straining. He’s still got around four boxes to unpack, but he really cannot be fucked. He wants food, and he wants it now.

He quickly googles “fast food near me” whilst aggressively pushing his feet into his tied trainers, and finds a small sandwich place just a few minutes away. It’s quick and easy, and gets pretty good reviews, with quotes of deliciousness and fast service. Good, the quicker the better.

The place is pretty empty when Cody walks in, bar the old man sitting in the corner with his hot coffee. It’s kind of like a subway layout, but smaller and less, corporatised. He’s greeted by a lovely guy, who’s probably around the same age as Cody, with swept dark brown hair, bordering on black. He’s polite, but obviously gives off the air of he’d rather be somewhere else than serving a pit stained sweaty guy. Cody realises at that moment he kind of smells of body odour.

‘Noel’ (Cody gets it from the name tag lopsidedly pinned on his apron) snaps on some gloves and asks Cody what he’d like, and whoa my, Noel’s voice is all kinds of sultry. Cody clears his throat and asks for just a chicken salad on white, no, whole grain, no white, as Noel’s hands hover over the counter. White.

“Never seen you round here before, you new to the area?” Noel asks above the glass counter, and Cody has to click himself back into the conversation.

“Huh? Oh yeah, just moved here today. I should’ve come in the winter cause it’s really too fucking hot right now.”

Noel scoffs and adds the salad to Cody’s sandwich, nodding politely. “Well i can assure you everyone round here is nice, you aren’t in a shit hole.”

Cody laughs a little and continues to make a little polite conversation with Noel. It can’t hurt, plus the store is cosy and has a nice little atmosphere of its own, so it might be nice to visit again soon. Prices are fucking good too.

Noel makes quick work of wrapping Cody’s sandwich, after asking whether he’s eating in or not.

“I’d rather not make a further bad impression and stain your clean seats with back and ass sweat, so i’ll take it to go.” Noel laughs pretty loudly, stirring the old man. Cody chuckles, and takes a drink from the fridge too, it’s wonderfully cold in his clammy hands. He pays with his card to save digging for sweaty change, and Noel laughs as he fumbles to put his wallet back in his pocket.

“Enjoy, hope to see you again soon.” Noel smiles, as he hands Cody a little plastic bag.

“Thanks, as long as this is the best sandwich i’ve ever eaten.” Cody quips, causing Noel to scoff.

“I’ll hold you to that.”

-

The walk back to his apartment is a little more enjoyable. It’s getting darker and there’s a slight breeze picking up, meaning Cody can get a little air. The town is peaceful, dimly lit from the street lamps and the odd porch lights, and Cody feels like he’s made the right choice here.

He toes off his shoes and sets the sandwich down on the kitchen table, switching on the radio he fumbled for earlier as a little bit of side entertainment. The signal isn’t that great, but it’ll do, and there’s some soft, smooth jazz playing. He opens a window or two.

The sandwich is wrapped neatly, and smells amazing, as Cody cracks off the lid of his soda. The bread is amazingly soft, and Noel’s got the chicken to mayo ratio absolutely perfect, it’s amazing. He’s a couple of bites into the sandwich when a glint in the bag catches his eye. He stops chewing and reaches inside, pulling out a small chocolate bar wrapped with his receipt.

On it, in ballpoint pen, is written:

“Welcome to the neighbourhood. -Noel”

And there’s a greasy fingerprint and a scruffy looking smiley face underneath too. Cody smiles, then breaks into a chuckle, his heart warming fondly at the gesture. He polishes off his sandwich with a few more swings of Soda, and relaxes back in the chair as another song plays on the radio behind the crackles.

Yeah. He’s gotta go back to that sandwich bar.


	2. Chapter 2

Cody’s alarm blares at 8am, that neon red from the cheap old alarm radio seeping right through his eyelids.

It’s his first day at the new office and he’d much rather stay in bed, his foot hanging off the left edge as his hand scrambles for the alarm button. He’s groggy and it takes him a few seconds to drag himself up. He’s just lucky the office is around the corner, giving him a little bit more shut eye.

The shower is refreshing, and he opts for a low cut tee since it’s pretty warm out, along with indulging in wearing his old comfy pair of ripped knee jeans. It’s his first day, why not?

It only takes him around 10 minutes to walk there, and he clocks in around 8:57, leaving him a few minutes to jump to the kitchen and make a coffee.

“Look, fresh meat!” A voice comes behind him, and Cody knows it’s Marcus. Marcus was first to transfer to their new office, and when an opportunity came up that Cody was really interested in here, Marcus welcomed him with open arms.

He laughs and they greet each other warmly, with Cody offering him a coffee too, which Marcus graciously accepts. They make comfortable small talk in the warmth of the break room.

“Oh man i completely forgot to tell you about the good food around here!” Marcus borderline shouts, and Cody chuckles as he throws the spoon in the communal sink, leaning on the marble countertop as he sips the coffee.

“I gotta give you a whole fucking tour, some of the stuff around here is insanely good.”

“I went to a lil sandwich bar last night and damn, it was-“ Cody pinches his fingers together and presses them to his lips, pulling them back and making a satisfied kiss sound, the kind of movement your dad does to the waiters when he tastes something amazing in a restaurant.

“Oh shit did you go to Bite City?”

“I think so? The little one on the corner of the boardwalk?”

“Yeah yeah, that place is a little gem! The dude that works there is so nice too, Nick or-“

“ _Noel_. Motherfucker gave me a free cookie.”

Marcus raises his eyebrows, in a kind of way that says ‘ _he doesn’t just give those out on a whim._ ’

Cody scoffs and shakes his head, heading to his desk, pretending he doesn’t feel the heat rising to his cheeks.

-

It hits 12:30 when Cody’s stomach starts rumbling. He didn’t have much for breakfast and he’s regretting it, the hunger’s coming on strong. He doesn’t really know what to eat, and that sandwich bar is kind of still in his mind.

He stands up and asks Marcus if he wants to head out for lunch, and he wholeheartedly agrees. They both aren’t sure where to head, and doesn’t want to bring up the sandwiches after Marcus’ earlier comment. But he’s still dragged into the small shop, a wide grin branding his coworkers face.

Noel’s there again to greet them as he snaps on a fresh pair of gloves, and the shop is a little more busy than last night, with a couple of trimmed and suited businessmen occupying the tables. Cody isn’t really sure what to have, so he asks Marcus, when Noel pipes in.

“BLT is a big hit?” He says, a smile tugging at the side of his mouth.

And god, why does Cody feel nervous all of a sudden?

“Yeah, sure.” He stutters out, and he can feel Marcus’ eyes boring into his skull. Noel’s speedy with their orders, and Cody reaches forward for his food as Noel pushes it forward too. Their fingertips brush and Cody feels himself jerk a little, as Noel laughs and carries on pushing.

“Any drinks for you guys?” Noel says, as him and Cody make eye contact, the blood rushing right up to Cody’s cheeks again. Noel’s eyes are really bright.

They both grab a cup drink and as Noel rings through their orders, Cody fumbles with his cup, his fingers dragging against the paper.

Marcus finds a pretty nice seat outside as Cody fills up his cup at the soda dispenser, sneaking a look at Noel over the side of the counter. Noel catches him staring, and Cody whips his head back to the cup and swallows, hard.

“Y’know, you get a much better ratio if you tilt your cup 45 degrees.” Noel quips, and Cody looks back at him.

“Just better for your pocket.” He smirks, and then for god knows why, _winks_ at Cody. Cody’s hand almost crushes the poor fucking paper cup, and Noel sniggers as the soda spills over the rim.

“ _Fuck_ ” Cody mutters under his breath, sucking the liquid off his fingers as he caps the drink, mumbling a quiet and pretty feeble, crackly ‘thank you’ to Noel as he heads outside. He feels Noel smiling at him as he leaves.

As he pushes the door open, his face is bright red and hot, and Marcus instantly notices.

“You get his number yet?” Marcus quips, a grin spreading right over his stupid fucking face.

Cody makes a noise and just starts eating, ignoring Marcus’ stupid little comment. No, he _doesn’t_ have a crush on Noel. He’s just new to the town and it’s different seeing new faces.

But as they leave, Cody takes a look through the glass doors and sees Noel raise a hand to Cody, almost waving him off. Cody does the same instinctively and then realises, whipping his hand down and quickly catching up to Marcus who’s a few steps ahead.

Yeah, he _definitely_ doesn’t have a crush.


End file.
